Saving Grace
by shattered
Summary: What if James had had a sister, a twin? What if there was more to the Marauders than four boys and a map? What if the Malfoys weren’t Voldemort followers by choice, if they were forced? What if that force’s name was Starling?
1. Relative Dreams

Title: Saving Grace

Author: shattered

Rating: about PG maybe PG13

Summery:  What if James had had a sister, a twin?  What if there was more to the Marauders than four boys and a map?  What if the Malfoys weren't Voldemort followers by choice, if they were forced?  What if that force's name was Starling?

Disclaimer:  Do I look like a rich, British, ex-school teacher?  I am Not JKR thus I don't own any of these characters except those that are the product of my own mind.

AN:  Yeah, I'm new at this and I have absolutely no clue if anyone will like this, and honestly if you do like this then tell me or I won't be able to write anymore of it.  This is un-betaed, sorry.

Saving Grace 

            It was your average Surry summer post-midnight morning, this thirty-first of July, crickets chirping, cats prowling, and people sleeping, well most people were sleeping on Privet Drive.  To be fully honest it seemed that only one person was awake along the whole of the street, one Harry Potter.  Which is not to say that being awake at midnight was unusual for the boy, who was more adult than many of those who held that title, after all how much sleep do you think one gets when they are plagued by nightmares of true evil?  Despite the common occurrence of visions of Voldemort and his cruelty that was not what had awakened him this night; no, the woman in his dreams had done that well enough.

            In his dream he had been sitting in an opulent, though somehow not extravagant, sitting room staring at the paintings that all seem to resemble him in some way when a woman had walked in.  The woman was both familiar and strange all at the same time; she had curly black hair that reached her knees, bright blue eyes that almost reminded him of Dumbledore with their twinkling, her thin lithe frame was set off by the black, red, and gold robes she wore.  She had a gently benevolent smile upon her face as she approached.  The first words had been hers as Harry was still trying to find his voice.

            "Hello, darling," her soft voice washed over him, immediately relaxing him and helping him find his courage to ask her a question.

            "Who are you?  What is this place?"  His questions were so quiet that he almost didn't hear himself but the woman had, and her smile grew for a second before she answered his question.

            "I am called Raven and this is a recreation of Potter Manor."

            "Umm… what do you mean by recreation?"  The woman…Raven chuckled at his expression of confusion.

            "This is a picture of a place that I know, that I have recreated in your mind for the sake of this meeting."  The voice was still soft and gentle, still had an almost physical feeling of peace.

            "Oh," and the head bowed as if to continue considering the explanation that he had been given.  "Oh."

            Another chuckle greeted his "oh" and his head shot up.  Raven let out a sigh and then a shake of her head and a sad smile.  "You're adorable sometimes."  And Harry gave her a look that said "what are you on?"  "But that's not important, we're running out of time, your presents will arrive soon and you have to be awake for that.  I need your help, sweetie, I want you to trust your instincts today and every day from now on.  Can you do that for me?"  She looked down at him with an expression he would almost call hopeful.

            "I can try."  Somehow he didn't want to let this woman…this Raven down but nor did he want to lie to her, he was torn and did the only thing he could, and he would try.

            "That's really all that I can ask of you, isn't it?"  Again she looked almost sad.  "I have one more thing to ask of you, Harry, precious, remember this: you were loved, you are loved, and you will be loved.  You mean a lot to a lot of people, and not just as the boy who lived."  Suddenly the wind that he had felt brushing against him through out the entire conversation rose and started to silently pull him towards a door, then right as the door opened behind him she called, "Harry, love," and he stopped moving as she quickly approached, "I love you."  And she kissed his scar, something no one else had even touched.  "Happy birthday."  And he was pulled the rest of the way out the door.  He saw it close and then he was awake, bolt upright in his bed.

            Suddenly there was a tapping at his window, as he stood up to open the window he noticed that the near constant pain from his scar had lessened dramatically, almost to the point of nonexistent.  He opened the window to eight owls including his Hedwig, Ron's Pig, Percy's owl (whose name I cannot remember nor find!!!), the Weasley family owl Errol, three Hogwarts owls, and Remus Lupin's owl.  The three Hogwarts owls waited to be free of their burdens then departed through the still open window, it was a little harder to get the package off of Pig due to his not stopping flying around the room, but soon he had all of his messages and presents.

            He opened Errol's package first, it contained a birthday cake, chocolate, and some candies along with messages from Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, Percy, Bill, and Charlie.  He then opened Pig's box to find that Ron had gotten him two books.  His shock at seeing books from his red headed friend lasted for nearly a full minute, then he looked at the covers _Checkmate; An Everybody's Guide to Chess_ and _Records and Miracles of Quidditch.  _At least they weren't textbooks or some similarly studious, that would have been frightening but then again his letter did say that he'd been made a prefect.  The next thing he opened was Hermione's which had arrived with Hedwig, he was unsurprised to find that she too had sent him books, _The Ultimate Guide to Hexes and Curses _and _The World's Best Quidditch Strategies, Tips, and Techniques_.  Same old Hermione books, books, and more books but he didn't mind, what withal the studying he had done this summer and would do after he got his new texts he would be set for the beginning of the year.  Hagrid had gotten him a black dragon hide outfit, boots, shirt, pants, and jacket, the outfit looked almost like leather and felt like it too.  Dumbledore had sent him what he said was his father signet ring, golden with the crest of the Potter family on it.  The next package after that contained a butterbeer and a notification of his partnership in Weasley Wizard Wheezes, and no buts about it or they would serve unto him a public humiliation the likes of which had never been seen before.  Sirius and Remus had sent a letter saying that they would be picking him up later that morning and to be ready to leave for the rest of the summer and that he would get his present later.

            The last letter he had to open was his Hogwarts letter, which seemed to him when he picked it up to be a bit heavy and a bit thick.  He read through the letter completely missing the all important paragraph the first time, it wasn't until he found a full rule list and a prefect badge with his supply list that he realized what he had read meant.  He was a prefect.  Him, Harry Potter, rule breaker extraordinaire, they had all gone crazy up at Hogwarts, all of them.

            Harry looked at the clock on his bedside table twelve thirty-five, man it was late and he was really tired.  He looked up when he saw the window shut, then felt the freak wind that blew lightly through the room.  He could almost hear a voice in the wind, Raven's voice he fancied.  "Go to sleep, Harry, this can all wait till morning.  Sleep well… darling."  And he went to bed as the wind requested, and somehow even managed to sleep well for the rest of the night, comforted by the dream of a woman who mothered him, loved him, and kissed his scar.  He couldn't hurry the morning along so he might as well sleep, it would come in it's own time.

            Later that morning Harry awoke to see the presents that he had left scattered across his bed had been somehow stacked on his desk, and that the papers that were previously spread on it's surface had been tidied into another pile.  He got up and decided to write responses to Ron, Hermione, and the other Weasleys.  After he finished with his letter writing he glanced at his clock and saw that it was seven thirty, he had half an hour to make the Dursleys breakfast.  He went to the bathroom took a quick shower got dressed and then went down the stairs to the kitchen.

            He started scrambled eggs, as Petunia had refused to comply by Dudley's diet anymore, bacon and toast.  He prepared the coffee and let the maker do its stuff, and quickly scarfed two pieces of toast before the Dursley's came down.  They rarely let him eat breakfast, or lunch, or dinner for that matter.  He then started to put food on plates and by the time he was done Dudley, Petunia, and Vernon were down at the table.  As soon as he had gotten all of the food to the table there was the customary, "Boy, get the mail!"  And so Harry went to get the mail and brought it back to Vernon and got an order to return to his room in return.

            "Umm… Uncle, a friend of Sirius' is coming to pick me up at nine thirty."  Harry saw his uncle go pale at the mention of Sirius' name.

            "Fine, you won't be coming back here this summer."

            "No, sir, I won't."  He meekly responded.

            "Fine then, go."  And with that Harry was dismissed.  He returned to his room to pack and by fifteen minutes after nine he was ready.  He spent his last fifteen minutes bringing his trunk and Hedwig's cage down the stairs.

            At exactly nine thirty the doorbell rang alerting Harry and all others inside that they had arrived.  Harry ran to open the door.  As soon as it opened a huge, mangy, black dog pounced on Harry, nudging and licking him.  "Hey, Snuffles."  Harry looked up to find Remus Lupin standing in the doorway smothering a chuckle.  "Hey, Professor."

            "Harry, I'm not your professor anymore, you can call me Remus, you know."  And he smiled down at the boy still under the massive dog.

            "Umm… okay, Pro—Remus.  Hey, Snuffles, I'm happy to see you to but it's getting a bit hard to breathe, you're heavy."  Snuffles the dog immediately removed himself from Harry.

            "Ready to go, Harry?"  Remus asked while helping him up.

            "Yeah all my stuff's here."  And he indicated the trunk and cage sitting in the entryway.

            "Well, then let's get it all in my car."  Here the werewolf picked up Harry's trunk and started to carry it out the still open door.  Harry grabbed the cage and started to follow him.

            "You own a car?  Isn't that unusual?"

            "Yes, but I inherited it for my muggle obsessed cousin."  Harry recognized the kind of car, an old Triumph Spitfire, he couldn't tell what year, but it was in nice shape.  Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage went into the boot and Sirius lay behind the seats (if anyone has actually seen a Spitfire they'd know that this isn't actually possible but please suspend your disbelief) and Harry and Remus sat in front.

            "Oh, that explains it, but this is a nice car and it's in good condition."

            "Yeah, it is.  I find that having a car can be advantageous sometimes."  Remus answered.

            "Like when?"  Harry asked honestly confused.

            "Like when where you're going isn't hooked up to the floo network, or you don't know where you're going, you need to know to Apparate or to make a portkey, or you're going to be near muggles who don't know about magic.  After all just appearing and disappearing is pretty suspicious."  Harry's once professor explained.

            "Oh."

            "Let's get out of here."  And the sound of a car accelerating was the last of that.

AN:  I hope you liked this, and if you did please review, please or I won't keep writing it.  Press the little button.

Love to all, shattered


	2. Forgotten Aunts

Title: Saving Grace

Author: shattered

Rating: PG to PG13

Summery:  What if James had had a sister, a twin?  What if there was more to the Marauders than four boys and a map?  What if the Malfoys weren't Voldemort followers by choice, if they were forced?  What if that force's name was Starling?

Disclaimer:  Do I look like a rich, British, ex-school teacher?  I am Not JKR thus I don't own any of these characters except those that are the product of my own mind.

AN:  Again un-betaed, sorry.  I got two reviews, I'm so thrilled, thank you.  I've got so many ideas for this fic and I know that I can't use them all, I mean, hey, this thing has been sitting in my head mutating for about a month.  Oh, well.  Hope you enjoy.  This chapter is dedicated to Roxy Angel, for being my first reviewer and being so enthusiastic.

Saving Grace 

            It wasn't until they were past the limits of Little Whinging that Harry bothered to ask where they were going, thought the answer he got was not quite what he expected.  Apparently they were going clothes shopping… for him.  It was something that he had really never experienced.  He was looking forward to it immensely.

            They spent two whole hours shopping for Harry, a fact that really bothered Sirius, as he had not been allowed into the store, no pets.  When they finished they hoped back in the car and headed to a fast food place.  They went through the drive thru rather than upset Sirius by going inside and leaving him alone again.  They munched their hamburgers while listening to American alternative and punk rock.  They were now headed to St. Mungo's.

            Harry once again posed the where are we going question when Remus pulled the car off the main road and onto a redbrick street.  The answer this time was even more shocking than before.  Harry had heard of St. Mungo's, it was the largest wizard's hospital in Britain, one of the largest in Europe.  'Why are we going there?' rang through his head.

            He couldn't help it he had to ask.  "Why are we going to St. Mungo's?"

            "Harry, Sirius and I we realized that you don't know about your other aunt."  Remus seemed almost unwilling to answer his question.

            "Other aunt, what other aunt?"  Harry looked positively bewildered by Remus' response.

            "James' sister, Elle, she was your dad's twin.  There were seven of us, the four Marauders and the three girls, they weren't official Marauders but they all had nicknames, too.  Lily's was Tiger, it was short for Tigerlily, Arabella's was Paws, and Elle's was --"

            "Raven, she was called Raven wasn't she?"  Harry had a look of dawning comprehension on his face.

            "Yes, but how did you know that?"  Remus was completely and totally floored, without the actual sinking to the ground that normally comes with the feeling, he was still driving after all.  _How _on Earth had Harry known _that?!  _No one had ever told him of that he was certain.

            "She came to me in my dreams last night, told me to trust my instincts and some stuff about being loved."

            "Oh my, I guess Sirius and Dumbledore were right, she has been watching."  Sirius in the back had perked up when he heard Moony say that he had been right.

            "Watching, how can she be watching?  What's wrong with her?"

            "Okay, beginning, best place to start after all, Sirius, James, and Elle had been friends since childhood, they lived near each other.  She was always amazingly accurate with what she said to people and about people.  She always seemed to know where people were, what they were doing, what they had been doing, what they were going to do, all sorts of eerie stuff.  But even with all that she was still fun, almost as mischievous as James, but she knew when to stop.  Elle was amazingly smart, and like James and Padfoot, it was innate, limited studying necessary.  She even tied for Head Girl with Tiger, they ended up as co-Head Girls, it was the first time that had ever happened.  She was engaged to Siri, still is officially.  On your first birthday, at your party even, she was attacked, she managed to get two of them but the third shot a cruse at her right before he Apparated out, she's been unconscious since.  We wanted you at least to see her once."

            "So how can she be watching?"  Harry was still confused on that point.

            "According to Dumbledore she's a Seer, a true Seer, and they always react funny to comas, and sleep for that matter."  Remus pulled into a parking space near the front.  Harry still looked a bit confused as he stepped out of the car.

            "So how could she have come to me last night?"

            "That I do not have an answer to."

            "Damn."  And the ex-professor looked down at the raven haired boy with a sympathetic smile, as they approached the front desk.

            "Elle Potter's room number, please."  The receptionist turned away to a clipboard, wrote down the name waited for an instant and answered.

            "Room two ten."  She then turned back to the obviously engrossing paperwork littering the desk.

            "Thank you."  A small nod was all the indication they got that she had heard.

            They headed off to the stairs and took them up a single story then found room two hundred and ten.  As they stepped into the room Harry got the first real look at the woman who had entered his dream the night before.  She looked mildly different, she was much paler and that was weird because she hadn't been truly tan to begin with, and she wore something similar to a hospital gown in the muggle world.  She wore a simply cut light blue robe, it appeared to be cotton.

            "She's so pale because of the lack of natural light, fourteen years in bed would make anyone lose their tan.  Shockingly enough the doctors say that her muscles haven't suffered from atrophy."  Remus had obviously been there before.

            "She's beautiful, did Dad look a lot like her?"  Harry's innocent question almost hurt Remus.

            "Yes, he did, Sirius says that there was a time when the only apparent difference was their hair lengths.  She found a spell to fix her vision but Lily loved James' glasses so he didn't have her cast it on him."

Remus looked like he was remembering something, and he was.  She had come bounding into the Gryffindor common room hugging a huge book to her chest with her glasses in one hand, yelling for James to come see the spell she had just found.  He remembered James getting ready to yell at her for her abrupt break in the Marauders' meeting, sans Peter, that they had been having.  Most of all he remembered laughing as Padfoot melted into a pile of goo, only to be told off by James being over protective.  Then having James get yelled at by Raven saying wasn't she the oldest and who made him her keeper and did he want to see the spell or not?  It was at that point that Lily had entered the common room and forbid James' getting rid of his glasses.

"Hey, Remus, are you okay?"  Harry's head was tilted as he searched his father's friend's face.

"Yeah, just remembering."

"Oh."  And his attention shifted for the werewolf to the woman lying on the bed.  "What did you mean by instincts, hun, Aunt Elle?  What do you want from me, Lady Raven?" Harry's hand had unknowingly reached out to rest upon his aunt's forehead and an instant later he found that he was not in the hospital room but instead in some sort of garden.  He turned his head in an attempt to see everything and it was in this movement that he saw Raven.

This time she was in jeans and a red tee shirt with 'Gryffindor' in proud old English letters arching above a picture of the Gryffindor lion rampant (up in that vertical pose).

"Hey, sweetie." She greeted with a smile and an odd ring to her voice.  "And as for your instincts, they've done you well, you've awakened me."

            "How?  And umm… where are we now?"

"Well, as to how, it has to do with the fact that we're blood relatives, and that we're both heirs of Gryffindor.  Your power   reacted with mine in such a way that it allowed me to throw off the curse completely."  She took a break here as if to think about the rest of the answer she had to give him.  She moved to play with a lock of her hair then tucked it behind her ear.  "As to where are we, this is another recreation, this time of James favorite garden in Potter Manor."

"Oh.  That's cool."

"We'd better get back now, to the real world, Remus and Sirius are looking worried."  And back in the realm of the waking they were, Sirius had his nose press into one of Raven's folded hands and Remus had a hand on Harry's arm.

Harry snapped out of it first, he removed his hand from Elle's forehead and leaned down so that he could see his aunt's hand twitch as she slowly awoke from her fourteen year sleep.  Sirius shifted his nose from her hand to her check when the movement became apparent to him as well, he so wanted to see the channel blue eyes that he knew lay behind those lashes.  Remus too seemed impatient for some bigger response, and he got it when her eyelids started to flutter open.

Sapphire blue eyes focused on each of the three in turn then all of them at once.  And a voice that hadn't been heard by physical ears in fourteen years spoke, more like rasped out, one word, just one.

"Hey."

AN:  Hey, what do you think of chapter two?  Sorry it's shorter than the last one but it had to end there for two very important reasons, fist off I wanted it done today, secondly it felt right to end it there.  Please review

Love to all, shattered


	3. Golden Oakleys and Miniature Cars

Title: Saving Grace

Author: shattered

Rating: PG to PG13, it's not really there yet but it will be, if for nothing else than the fact that real people cuss and not everyone's a prude.

Summery:  What if James had had a sister, a twin?  What if there was more to the Marauders than four boys and a map?  What if the Malfoys weren't Voldemort followers by choice, if they were forced?  What if that force's name was Starling?

Disclaimer:  Do I look like a rich, British, ex-school teacher?  I am Not JKR thus I don't own any of these characters except those that are the product of my own mind.

AN:  I don't know why but I've got this strange idea that reviews are a good thing, perhaps I'm just crazy.  I don't mean to be a review nazi but I'd like to get more than three.  Do you all think it's possible, maybe at all?

Saving Grace 

          "Hey."

          It was only one word but it caused such a reaction you'd have though that it was an hour long speech on some deep moral issue.  Sirius had his face buried in Elle's neck; he was obviously shaking, wracked with sobs, free from some of the cold that had settled over his soul.  Remus was clutching her hand, the other was holding the back of Sirius' head, tears streaming down his face, but at least he was smiling, even if it was a sad smile.  Harry had a small happy, mysterious smile on his face and he was watching his aunt try to comfort both his godfather and his old teacher, and he had to admit she was doing a fine job of it.

          "Hey, Remus, Moony, sugar, do you think that you could find out when I can leave?"  Remus' tears had stopped and his grip loosened so she assumed that he would be okay finding out for her.

          "Sure, Raven."  And with that he was on his way.

          "Hey, Siri, love, I need to sit up.  Padfoot, precious, up," and the seemingly delicate woman managed to lever her considerably larger fiancé off of her long enough to reposition herself against the headboard.  "Harry, honey, it's good to finally see you again, in person."

          "Yes, Aunt Elle, it is."  And Harry threw back the smile that she bestowed upon him.  "But shouldn't Snuffles change back, he risks getting caught the longer he stays as he is."  The worried look Harry shot his recovering godfather was unmistakable.  Sirius raised his head to look at Harry and appeared to be deciding the validity of what he said, he obliviously found the statement logically sound because in an instant Snuffles sat on Raven lap in Sirius' place.  "You like calling people by cute pet-names don't you?"

          "I guess I do, it started with James, I always called him 'brother dear' and it bugged the heck out of him, then I started being friendly with all of the Marauders, Tiger, and Paws.  Sirius brought it up in our third year said that it wasn't fair that just because James was my brother he got a cute nickname."  She smiled down at the dog that seemed to be trying to burrow into her lap.  "So I started using cute often trite pet-names for all of my friends."

          "Even Peter?"

          "No one starts evil, Harry, he broke somewhere along the way and we missed it.  Never ignore your friends, sweetie, not even for an instant, cause that's when the enemy moves in on them, makes them willing to hurt you first."  She looked almost guilty, no scratch that, she definitely looked guilty.

          "I won't, hell, even if I tried I doubt they'd let me."  And he shook his head.  "My friends are very in your face people."

          "That's good to hear."

          "Amazing."  The doctor and Remus had come back.  "Miss Potter, we need to run tests, and while I'd like to keep you here for another day I doubt that I'd be able to, after all you've been here for fourteen years."  And with that he started casting spells that swept over Raven and then landed on some sheets of parchment that had been on the desk in the room.  When the glowing balls of the spells hit the parchment words sprouted and flowed across the pages.  (Unlike the reviews for this fic.)  The medi-wizard picked up the parchment and studied the sheets often shifting for one to another and back as if confirming all the odd results.  "Well, Miss Potter, it seems that you have suffered no complications from your fourteen year sleep.  Somehow you managed to not suffer from atrophy, and that is very, very unusual."  And he looked confused too.

          "I think it had to do with the curse that was cast on me."  Raven's confident grin told him that that was all the explanation he was going to get for now.  "Can I leave now?"

          "I suppose, but I want you back in for a follow up tomorrow, okay?"

          "Fine.  Do you have any of my clothes?"  And she looked desperately around the room.

          "Ah, not quite, what is your size?"  The wizard asked as he moved to stand in front of the wardrobe.

          "Medium, muggle clothes, please."

          "Sure.  Medium," the last was aimed at the piece of furniture.  "All kinds of clothes in there, Miss Potter, I'm sure that you'll be able to find something."  And he left.

          "Go wait in the waiting room, I'll be out in a second."

          "Sure, Elle."  "Okay, Aunt Raven."  With those answers Remus and Harry left the room with Padfoot hesitantly following behind them.

          "Why dose Aunt Raven want muggle clothes?"  Harry asked Remus when they were in the waiting room.

          "She's probably going to try to get custody and to get the papers she needs she's going to have to deal with muggle law enforcement and they won't think well of robes."

          "Oh.  Wait, why's getting custody papers?  For who?"  It took a little while for the sentence to dawn on him.  "Wait, me, she's trying to get custody of me?  Why?"

          "Well… there are three really important reasons and a whole bunch of less important ones that I won't tell you.  First off, you're my nephew, my brother's son.  Secondly, you're my godson, my best friend's only child.  Third and most importantly, I love you, what more reason do I need?"  Raven had come up behind them in jeans, black and white Adidas, and a red shirt.  Her long, jet black hair was kept off her face by a pair of gold Oakley's.  A brilliant gold ring sparkled on her finger, rubies and diamonds winking in the light.

          "They kept the stuff I came in with so I have my engagement ring again, thank God."

          "Yes, it was rather an expensive ring, wasn't it?"  Remus then thought about it, "or is it that we all, except Peter, helped Padfoot pick it out?"

          "Both.  Hey, Remmie, you have your Spitfire here don't you?"

          "Well, yes, why?"  Remus looked honestly surprised at the statement.

          "Get all of the stuff out of it, well go on."  With that she walked over to the car and started to pull Harry's things out of the back.  When Lupin was sure that there was nothing in the car she waved her wand whispered a spell.  A flash of light prevented Harry and Moony from seeing hat had happened but when it cleared they saw that there was no car there only --a toy?!  Raven went to pick it up and handed it to Remus.  "We'll take my car!"

          "You and Lily always had the weirdest ways of storing things."  And a shake of his head was all he could return.  Raven pulled out her key chain and plucked off what appeared to be a model of some sort of silver sedan.  She set the model on the ground waved her wand and whispered another spell.  There was another flash of light and suddenly a brand new sedan stood in front of them.

          "Currency charm keeps the car up to date with the times."

          "Oh."

AN:  Yes I know that this is short and late and a half dozen negative things but you know three reviews just isn't enough to make writing this worth it.


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